Cheap airfare to London?

[Sam]

As a high school graduation gift, my son is allowed to travel europe with his London friend (they went to school together here in Houston). My gift to him is $2,000, and he has some $500 saving of his own. The boys plan to backpack through Europe.

My son has been looking for roundtrip airfare (Houston-London-Houston) but was unable to find anything within his budget. The cheapest one he found was around $900. He asked me to help. I didn't want him to think I was the wrong person, so I said yes (big mistake). I know next to nothing as far as searching for good deals.

Help! His departure date is flexible, between June 24 to July 4, from Houston. Return is approximately 30 days afterward, again very flexible.

Any pointer? Where should I start? What do you normally do looking for good deals?

Thanks.

 

[lswswein]

I generally use kayak.com but I am also finding stuff around $1000. Since his dates are so flexible, in this case you might have to look into calling a real ticketing agent to get hold of the discounted tickets. Also Priceline might be an option you could look into. The problem is peak summer is an expensive time to fly to Europe. Also look into the fact that you might be able to get a cheap ticket to somewhere in the east coast and then a cheap ticket to London from there

-h

 

[Sam]

Also look into the fact that you might be able to get a cheap ticket to somewhere in the east coast and then a cheap ticket to London from there

Thanks. I will look into this option.

 

[eridanus]

Priceline is made for people with flexible schedules. Low-ball an offer ($600?) and see if it gets accepted.

 

[Sam]

Never tried low-balling before, but will. Can't hurt, right? Thanks.

 

[Texas Proud]

The problem is he is going during the high season... the planes are usually FULL then... I don't think you will find anything much cheaper than that...

BUT, do some searching... try looking at flights from NY (includes Newark) to London and then see what deal you can get to NY... there are MANY more flights from NY and sometimes you can get a deal....

 

[califdreamer]

Yeah, tough going that time of year for cheap fares. Another website that may be useful is sidestep.com. Good luck.